Tim Cooney, Be Just Who You Are
The Songwriter's Journey
🎸 Just Who You Are — A Songwriter’s Journey Through Rhyme and Time
By Timothy Bernard Cooney
Before I knew what a songwriter was, I was already becoming one.
I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon or a studio in my garage. What I had was a damp basement, an early reel-to-reel I received on Christmas when I was nine, and a hunger to understand the world around me. The sound of a needle dropping onto vinyl felt like the truth. The voices that came out of our family’s radio—Dylan, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor—felt like my first real teachers.
And more than anything else, they helped me survive.
🎶 Tim Cooney | SunTurtle Studios 🌊🎨
Tim Cooney’s music seamlessly blends soulful storytelling with melodies that resonate with the human experience. His songs reflect a lifetime of experiences, seamlessly weaving folk-rock, indie, and Americana influences into a unique sonic tapestry. Each track resonates with raw emotion, inviting listeners to reflect, heal, and celebrate the winding paths of life. From poignant ballads to uplifting anthems, Tim’s artistry captures reinvention, resilience, and the beauty of starting over. Based in California and backed by SunTurtle Studios, his sound draws from deep roots in family, love, and creative exploration. Expect heartfelt lyrics, captivating acoustic textures, and an authentic voice that lingers long after the last chord fades. Whether you’re looking for music that tells a story or simply lifts your spirit, Tim Cooney’s catalog on SoundCloud offers a soulful escape. 🌟🎸 #TimCooneyMusic #FolkRock
🎵 This Week’s Songs
These three songs—“Acorn Sprout,” “Just Who You Are,” and “Another Decade”—are not just songs. They’re scenes. Prayers. Pages from the memoir I didn’t know I was writing.
🔊 Listen to "Acorn Sprout" Written for my children
🔊 Listen to "Just Who You Are" Written for me
🔊 Listen to "Another Decade" Written for you
🎵 [Listen to all my tracks on SoundCloud] (https://soundcloud.com/timcooney-22)
My SoundCloud page features decades of songs I’ve written, as well as hundreds of covers.
Bonus Track: Folk Singer
🌱 “Acorn Sprout” — Growing in Stillness
This is a song about finding your roots. It may sound like a children's song on first listen—simple, catchy, whimsical. But the truth underneath is anything but childlike. I wrote it for my children so they could see themselves growing like a tree, trying to find themselves in the person they are.
“The summer sun it felt so fine / So I set down my roots, gonna make this place mine.”
That’s what I’ve done, again and again, through life’s fires and droughts. Set down roots.
When I wrote this, I was reflecting on fatherhood, aging, and the cycles that kept bringing me back to love. It echoes a line from The Journeyman:
“I started my first studio in a damp, basement room… It was my sanctuary in our chaotic house. No one would venture in there but me.”
That room was my sanctuary, where I had my record player, reel-to-reel tape recorder, and my dreams. My first little corner of the world where I could grow into myself in peace. Listening to the lyrics of the now classic songs written by teenagers and young people trying to find their voice.
And the chorus?
“I’m just a tree, and that’s alright with me…”
It's not a resignation. Its arrival. It’s standing tall with the bark you've earned on the bluff overlooking your future. In a place you’re rooted.
Acorn Sprout
Written by Tim Cooney 2022
I started out as an acorn sprout The spring came along and I poked my head out The summer sun it felt so fine So I set down my roots, gonna make this place mine I’m just a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah I Grew a couple branches out on my side A real good place for them birds to hide The kids like to play all up in my shade I thought to myself, I got it made I’m just a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah The next ten years went by so fast The present now will soon be the past I kept on growing and I got so tall Then came the drought and I hit the wall I’m just a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah The fires rip through from year to year But I stay safe way up here I was lucky, my roots run deep I pray to God my soul to keep I’m just a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah Being a tree is sometimes rough But you can’t beat the view from on top of this bluff Yeah I’m planted here and I can’t go far But I found my place under these stars I’m just a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah Now I’m the biggest tree in all the land From an acorn sprout in the sand And the people come from near and far Just to see me — I’m a rock and roll star But I’m still a tree, That’s all I’ll ever be I am just a tree That’s my reality I am just a tree, and that’s alright with me — oh yeah
🔥 “Just Who You Are” — Looking into the Mirror and Breaking the Chains
This one hits harder.
It’s for the boy I used to be—the one who stayed quiet for too long. A boy, now a man who thought blending in was safer than standing tall in my truth.
“Break out of that prison cell / The scars you bear, you wear them well…”
The truth is, most of us walk around with invisible chains—expectations, shame, roles we never agreed to play. “Just Who You Are” is the song I wish someone had written for me when I was 19, or 29… or even 49. I wrote this song on a red-eye flight from San Diego to Boston, returning from yet another conference when I was fifty. I was very successful and had built a beautiful family and life on Cape Cod, but something was missing. Perhaps you have felt the same way at times, just wishing to see yourself and that others would see you not for what you are, but for who you are.
It connects directly to a moment in the memoir when I finally began to take the stage of my own life: Seeing myself for the first time as the man I was, not just how others saw me.
“The labels they gave me never fit. The only thing that ever felt true was music—and the sound of my voice learning to listen to itself.”
You can’t fake freedom. But you can fight for it. This song is part of that fight.
Just Who You Are
Written by Tim Cooney 2013
You came to life in the usual way You had no voice, you had no say You were like a ball of clay But that's not who you are today When you grew up there was no silver spoon You grew up fast and you felt marooned You were out on a limb too far But that's who you were and not who you are Not who you are Be just who you are Just who you are Be who you are Who you are Don't waste your time playing a part Be yourself, take a shot Don't be afraid of what they say People do that when they lose their way They lose their way.... Don't lose your way... Don't lose your way Be who you are Just who you are Be just who you are Just who you are Break out of that prison cell The scars you bear you were them well Don't let them say you won't go far because inside, you know just who you are Just who you are... Be who you are... Just who you are Just who you are Be just who you are Who you are It's not easy being yourself It's even harder being someone else When you're half you can't be whole So look into the depth of your soul Down to your sole.... I know it sounds simple, but it's true It's not what you say but what you do Find your way back to your star Let the world see just who you are Who you are Be who you are That's just who you are Just who you are Be just who you are Just who you are
🕰️ “Another Decade” — Watching the World Unfold Through a Guitar and a Song
This song is a history book written in chorus.
“Another decade / Just passing through / Another decade / What will we do…”
I was born in 1961. That means I’ve lived through every moment this song mentions. The Kennedy assassination. The Beatles. Vietnam. Watergate. Lennon’s death. Cobain. The rise and fall of hope, again and again.
The verses trace the decades of my life through the music that scored them:
“Then came the Beatles / And the Rolling Stones / A British invasion, with / Guitars and microphones.”
But it’s more than nostalgia. It’s a lament. A prayer. A warning. A reminder that art—real art—comes from the tension between what is and what could be.
From The Journeyman, I wrote:
“When I was ten years old, the album Dark Side of the Moon came out and I had it on my turntable for my entire teenage experience… I was lying on my bed, with my headphones on, letting those notes take me someplace better, a place unseen.”
Music was never just background noise. It was survival. It was a revolution. It was a revelation.
And in the 1970s, especially, it had a profound impact on me.
“We all felt the world shift that decade. It was sex, it was protest, it was rage, it was love. I learned how to play a guitar, how to make a girl smile, and how to get lost in a record sleeve for hours.”
Another Decade
Written by Tim Cooney 2017
Now I was born in 61 The year of the Kennedys’ My native sons They filled our heads With visions and dreams A new generation Things are never what they seem When a bullet rang out In the Texas heat Poor Jack lay dead Right there in the Dallas Street Another decade Just Passing through Another decade What will we do Another decade Just passing by More questions than answers Don't ask me why Then came the Beatles And the Rolling Stones A British invasion, with Guitars and microphones And the civil rights movement Was having it's say But that all ended When someone shot MLK So students were marching They couldn't wait Then Nixon shot four dead At Ohio state Another decade Just Passing through Another decade what will we do Another decade Just passing by More questions than answers Don't ask me why The seventies They started late Then the Beatles broke up Yoko Ono sealed their fate The decade dragged on There was nothing new When we heard Keith Moon died from the Who All the rockers They were at a loss Then time magazine Introduced us to the Boss Another decade Just Passing through Another decade What will we do Another decade Just passing by More questions than answers Don't ask me why Well the Eighties began with a blow Why these things happen, I don’t think we’ll ever know On Monday Night Football Howard Cosell said I hate to tell you but John Lennon he's dead The eighties flew by With little fan fair Except for MTV and Madonna And all that great big hair But the music kept playing When the decade was through They kept on rocking It’s all we could do Another decade Just Passing through Another decade What will we do Another decade Just passing by More questions than answers Just don't ask me why As the nineties began It was all Teen Spirit A band from Seattle You just had to hear it We found Nirvana But it was too late That Rock and Roll curse It Just wouldn’t wait Another decade Just Passing through Another decade What will we do Another decade Just passing by Who will be the next one That has to die
🎸 Becoming the Man the Boy Dreamed Of
I don’t take it for granted that I’m still here searching and finding my voice in the songs I write. I still want to write and explore, from my tape recorder to the tools of AI, utilizing technology that enables me to produce my music in a whole new way. I revisit my lyrics through AI production tools and hear them in a way I could only have dreamed of in the past. The new tracks you hear on my SoundCloud and Spotify channels are my songs, but they were produced using AI tools. In the past, I would have had to assemble a band and spend days in a recording studio, spending thousands of dollars to get the results I can now get in hours. I’ve embraced the tools available to me now, just as I begged my parents for a reel-to-reel tape recorder in 1969, all to help me find my voice and write what I feel so I can share it with you.
I write songs like I wrote my book—with my whole heart, and the soundtrack proves that with every word.
“The greatest journey isn’t a destination, it’s a journey into your soul. To sing out loud even when no one is listening.”
That line from The Journeyman wasn’t just a metaphor. It was my life.
📸 Archive: Roots of a Songwriter
Christmas 1969: Age 8, (Tim bottom right), with our first toy instruments. The following year, my father bought me a reel-to-reel tape recorder, allowing me to record songs from the radio and begin my musical journey.
My grandson Mason, age 6, holding his first guitar like it was the Holy Grail
(My Acorn Sprout) 2024
Tim in high school, long hair, jean jacket, garage band dreams 1976 Age 15
On the sailboat Amy 1982 Guitar in hand age 21
In the studio with Turtleback 2010 age 45
Performing at the First Night festivities, New Year’s 2015, Sandwich, Massachusetts Age 54
Performing on statge with The SunTurtles 2023 Novato Californis. age 62
Every song I write now carries all these moments. Along with the story of my struggle to find my voice.
That’s the story of The Journeyman!
🧭 Final Thoughts: Sing Anyway
If you’re reading this and wondering if it’s too late for your voice, your art, your truth—let me tell you something:
It’s never too late to begin again. The world needs your story.
Write it. Sing it. Shout it. Whisper it.
But don’t stay silent. Not one more day.
🌐 Connect With Me
I would greatly appreciate all your comments. If you are an agent or wish to discuss collaborations, please email me directly at timcooney@sunturtlestudio.com. I am actively seeking representation for my Memoir, The Journeyman.
https://www.sunturtlestudio.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@timcooneysunturtlestudios
Thank you for walking this road with me.
Sail on, my friends, sail on!
—Tim
Love this chronicle and description of your timely use of every instrument at your disposal to tell your stories . You were always a pioneer that way little brother. Proud of what you have done here. I hope some of these songs can be recorded and produced by bigger voices. That would be a dream come true for you Tim. AI has curated and engineered these arrangements into really good songs from your words and music. It’s truly amazing! Bravo! And thanks for sharing your process too. Keep journaling , it inspires me to do the same.